What Your Logo Says About You

The American Marketing Association defines a logo as a "word, phrase or graphic, that is used as a continuing symbol for a company, organization or brand." At Bruce Clay, Inc. we take that definition one step further. We believe your logo is the first line of contact between you and your audience. It identifies your product or services to your customer and distinguishes you from your competition. Your logo is extremely important in helping your company create and maintain its brand in today's marketplace and is key to successful branding.

Why Is Having A Logo Important?

Advertising and corporate logos are everywhere. Customers are bombarded with logos at every turn - they see the Golden Arches while driving home from work, the red-and-white soup can staring them down the grocery aisle, those multi-colored oooo's greeting them when they open up their Internet browser and that swoosh symbol racing across the screen when they're watching TV.

Why are logos so important? Because all we had to do was mention the logo and you instantly pictured the logo and identified the company name, didn't you? It is that immediate recognition that makes logos so important to marketing and to the success of your company. If you want your company to be successful, you need your logo to be a member of that list. An effective logo can make a small company appear more like a big business and help keep customers loyal.

What Makes A Good Logo?

Your logo should be the center of your company's brand strategy. It may seem like a trivial factor, but its importance is undeniable. Your success in your market will be based on your ability to set yourself apart from your competition. You will need to establish yourself as being better. However, no matter how revolutionary your product is, if people can't remember your company's name, or identify your product among the sea of those similar, you are going to lose conversions.

Consumers use logos as a way to quickly identify and choose products. They help them navigate through grocery stores, department stores, the sidewalks, and in virtually all other marketable aspects of life. Your logo is the roadmap that will lead your customers to you.

An effective logo can help sell your product and give your customer's an image to help them define your company and its goals. The goal of your logo is to build a brand, not to sell a product. Your logo should appeal to your customer's emotions, sell a lifestyle, and give your product a recognizable personality.

A company that does not pay attention to the image their logo puts out, may find their customers being offended, confused, or even unaware of, their existence. A bad logo can turn your company and its goal into a joke, or even worse, cause them to be forgotten. Don't let your logo fall into the bad logo abyss!

An effectively designed logo will be easily recognizable and follow four main principles. It will:

• Positively represent your company
• Be unique and memorable
• Follow the basic logo design principles
• Be multi-functional

Represent Your Company

As we've said previously, the main goal of your logo is to build your brand. In order to do this you must carefully construct your logo so that it can stand on its own to visually depict your company and its message. Logos that are able to accomplish this task will be able to create a more positive corporate image and foster customer loyalty.

Your logo will often be the first glimpse a user gets of your company. As a result, it's important your logo accurately depicts who you are. It will set the tone for the rest of your customers' interaction with your company, so make sure your logo represents your company as a whole, not just a portion of it. For example, think of NBC's peacock logo. The logo incorporates multi-colored feathers with each feather representing a different division of the company. Google also does this. Each letter is a different color to represent all of their different components. Granted, if Google tried to include ALL of their components they'd run out of colors!

Your logo should also depict the nature of your business. For example, if you are a tire company, using your brand name printed in fanciful script is probably not a good idea. Customers will not associate fanciful characters with dependable tires. In this case, if you are going to go with a text-based logo, you should try using solid block letters (think Midas). This will help your customers associate your company as being sturdy and dependable. Exactly how they want their tires.

Design Principles

A good design is crucial to the success of your logo. In order to engage and excite your audience it must be useful, readable and visually pleasing. Studies have found that well-designed logos are easier for customers to remember. When designing your logo, keep in mind the logo must look just as good in full-color as it does in black and white. This will be discussed later when we talk about functionality.

A strong design will help your logo be remembered. Your logo design should be based on three main factors: shape, color and typeface.

• Shape - Shape is a very powerful thing when constructing a logo. It can be used to represent your company's stability, flexibility, or power, depending on what shapes or lines are used. Long, angular shapes, like rectangles, are said to be somewhat dominating; while round, proportionate shapes symbolize harmony and/or perfection. Just using lines can convey an array of emotions, so be cautious of how you use them. Curves and slight edges can help your company create a softer, more casual image. The sharp edges found in a square may represent formality or tension. They are often used for technology-based logos. Use the shape or line structure that best reflects the vision of your company.

• Color - Color is uniquely powerful and will be a key component of your logo. Why? Because users instinctively use color to categorize objects and distinguish brands. They associate colors with different feelings. When choosing colors it's more than just picking a color and creating a brand around your selection. Users associate colors with different feelings: Oranges often connote a feeling of luxury or enthusiasm; Reds signify a sense of intensity or passion; White represents purity, youth and stability; Blue conveys peace, loyalty and trust; and Black is said to represent a sense of mystery, mourning or sophistication. So make sure you're using your colors wisely. Using your colors appropriately will reassure consumers and help establish customer loyalty.

  Many users have come to associate companies solely by their color. Think about it. A woman sees a small light blue box and she immediately knows it's from Tiffany's. A red-and-white soda can is a can of Coke. People know Mary Kay Pink, UPS Brown. Campbell's soup comes in a red and white can, while Progresso comes in blue. It's how we associate them. What colors represent your company?

• Typeface - Your typeface should be reflective of the personality you want to create. As the number of available typefaces increases, more and more companies are relying on their name to act as their main logo. Companies that rely solely on text based logos should pay particular attention to their typefaces. Companies looking to portray a sense of friendliness and approachability should experiment with full-bodied sans-serif letting, as they are perceived as being more people-oriented.

  Looking to establish authority? Try incorporating all capitals into your logo to help your company create a commanding presence. But be careful - setting too strong a tone will cause your company to seem over aggressive or overpowering. Also, too many capital letters can make text hard to read - forming a solid rectangle of text. IBM is a good example of a company that uses capitalized block lettering to establish authority without alienating its audience. The IBM logo stands so absolute it looks like it was made by machine, instead of by hand.

  Conversely, using all lowercase letters will help your company set a more modest and minimalist tone. An example of this would be petroleum company BP's logo. The unassuming look of the lowercase 'bp' that sits at the upper right-hand of their image reinforces the company's grassroots tone; putting company and logo completely in sync. If it's elegance and formality you want, try using serifs with tall, narrow lettering. This style is used by most wedding planners and gown manufacturers.

  It is generally thought that serif type is easier to read than sans-serif because it is easier to distinguish between characters, however you should pick whatever best suits your needs. If you're not sure if serif or sans-serif is the way to go, try creating a variation of the two. Don't stop tweaking your logo until it works for you.

Types of Logos

There are three main types of logos: combination, logotype and iconic logos. While there is no rule that says one is superior to the other, it is your job to select the logo that best represents your company and the one you feel with have the most impact on your audience.

• Combination Logo - Combination logos feature a symbolic icon, as well as text. An example of a combination logo would be the McDonalds logo, which contains the name of the company as well as the infamous golden arches. Another example would be the hotel chain Hyatt's text and curved line logo or Puma's logo which mixes the company name and the image of the jumping puma.

• Logotype Logo - Logotype logos are comprised of text only. An example of this would be the Google logo, which displays the brand name in various colors. Other examples would be the Kellogg's red script logo and Hertz's blocky logo.

• Iconic Logo - An iconic logo is comprised of a symbol or graphic only. There is no text. An example of this would the Nike swoosh. A customer needs no words to distinguish Nike's iconic swoosh symbol. Another example would be Adidas' three stripe logo.

Be Multi-Functional

A great logo must be functional. What does that mean? It means you must be able to replicate it easily. You will need to be able to adjust the size, the background and the color without losing the integrity of the message. Logos must look exactly the same on company letterhead and business cards as they do on T-shirts, water bottles, billboards or on the Web. They need to be as visually appealing in black-and-white as they are in color. Designing for effectiveness, usability and simplicity are extremely important in the logo creation process.

Something companys often don't think about (to their detriment) is how their logo will read internationally. If your company does business overseas, it's a good idea to see how your letters, images or slogans will translate to a foreign reader. Not doing so may cause you to accidentally insult, embarrass, disgust, or just plain confuse your audience.

Want some examples? Take a look at these:

• Pepsi was surprised to find out their largely popular 'Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation' slogan was not a hit in Taiwan. Why didn't work? Maybe it because when translated into Mandarin it read, 'Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead'.

• Kentucky Fried Chicken's widely successful slogan finger-lickin' good may be a hit in the United States, but in China it makes people nervous. Translated into Chinese, KFC's main branding slogan translates into 'eat your fingers off'.

• Americans love Gerber baby food, but the French do not. Why? Perhaps it is because in French, Gerber means vomiting.

Make Customers Remember You

Be unique. Copycat logos are destined for failure because they give your customer the opportunity to confuse your company with someone else's. For example, when Pepsi first launched their script-based logo it was very similar to competitor Coca-Cola's. As a result, it was very difficult for users to distinguish the two and Pepsi suffered a large drop in sales. Ultimately, Pepsi revamped to the circular logo they have today and saw a major increase in sales.

A unique logo is also more likely to gain trademark protection, ensuring that it stays unique. Having a trademark will prevent someone from being able to snatch up your perfectly creative logo right from under you. Creating something unique will give you more opportunity to protect your creation, hindering others who want to piggyback off of your success.